[Trayderjoe]

We had dined at Mezza Luna quite a while ago and it was everything we didn't like: poor service, a dining room so dark we had to use the flashlight app on our phones to read the menu (perhaps it was dark to hide the food served to us) and terrible meals. After reading some of the more current reviews, I decided to give it a try today.

I was pleasantly surprised at the turnaround in my dining experience to wit:

Marcos started as my server, but I apparently arrived very near the end of his shift, so he was unable to complete service for me after he delivered my entrée. He was excellent-prompt with my drink order, spacing out my soup course from my entrée and very courteous. He was replaced by Laura, who while very courteous, was a little less than attentive. She stopped by to inform me, as I was almost done with my entrée, that she had taken over for Marcos and would finish out for him. I finished my meal and my glass of wine and sat for almost 12 minutes before she came back to the table (I did not see her in the dining room). When Laura did return, she brought along my bill without checking to see if I wanted anything else, like coffee or dessert. I asked her if they did not offer dessert, as a prompt, to which she informed me of the dessert offerings.

There was a gentleman in the restaurant who appeared to either be the owner or a manager, and he literally did a "drive by" how are you? to me. He was also on the phone at the time and did not seem really interested in my response or how they had done with my meal. Please note that I was dining early and I initially was the only diner in the dining room.

I ordered the Minestrone and it was wonderfully full of vegetables, but to me, it lacked enough seasoning, as a bit more salt would have been great (which I added myself). I do wonder though, since I am dining at a restaurant in The Villages, if this is just what I call "Villages seasoning level" (little to no salt or pepper, and food listed as spicy which seems to mean they added black pepper to it).

My entrée was the penne Bolognese, and I was extremely happy with it. The portion size was very good and the amount of meat in the Bolognese was more than I have had in other restaurants, so a big thumbs up there. It should be noted that their Bolognese is beef based versus pork based. The bread that was brought to the table was also very warm and enjoyable.

I tried the house Merlot which was light bodied, but paired with the Bolognese pretty well. I would probably go with the Chianti or Cabernet Sauvignon the next time I have the Bolognese.

After my little exchange with Laura regarding dessert, I chose to try the Tiramisu. The Tiramisu was light and creamy, however it was a little understated in coffee flavoring. I have had better and worse, so I would put their Tiramisu at maybe an "8" out of "10". Good, but just missing the bullseye for me.

Overall I felt that the cost of my meal was pretty reasonable as I could have taken enough of the entrée home and used it as part of a second meal.

Lastly, I always check out the restroom and found it to be neat and clean. I tend to read reviews looking for cleanliness and good service. My experience has been that people have different taste profiles, so I usually take the food reviews with, pardon the pun, "a grain of salt".

[waynet]

my favorite Italian place